Mu Fengyun’s face went pale. Just then, the black wall pressed forward again, throwing him off balance and sending him stumbling backward.
A hand caught him in time.
Mu Fengyun turned his head and met Yuan Shu’s clear, dark eyes.
“Don’t panic. I’ve found a way out. Remember to hold your breath!”
After giving him that instruction, Yuan Shu supported Mu Fengyun’s back and pressed him against her shoulder. “Hold on to me.”
Mu Fengyun instinctively wrapped the last of his strength around Yuan Shu’s waist.
Yuan Shu formed a series of hand seals. Crimson light poured from her palms, connecting with an inconspicuous streak of red light within the underground Yin Water River.
At the very instant the black walls squeezed in until they were only inches from the two of them, the power of teleportation manifested. The two figures within the spatial formation vanished without a trace!
…
In the dim depths of the water, the only guide was a sliver of light shining from above.
The freezing water engulfed them from head to toe, soaking through their robes and transferring its icy chill directly to their skin.
Yuan Shu shuddered, tightened her hold around the weakened Mu Fengyun in her arms, and struggled toward the surface.
“Splash!”
With the sound of breaking water, Yuan Shu emerged from the riverbed and dragged Mu Fengyun ashore.
She tossed the glowing stone against the wall beside them. Its gentle light illuminated the face of the person in her arms.
When she lowered her head to look, Yuan Shu’s heart lurched.
Mu Fengyun’s already fair face had turned frighteningly pale. His lips were bloodless, and his eyes were tightly shut!
“Senior Brother Mu? Mu Fengyun?” Yuan Shu reached out and patted his cheek, but he did not react at all.
“Shushu, the power of the Cangming Ice Soul has been activated. His meridians and flesh have all been frozen into shards of ice!”
The Hehuan Divine Tree’s voice suddenly rang out in her mind. Yuan Shu froze, then hurriedly reached out to feel his pulse.
Her spiritual energy flowed through his pulse, and an overwhelming force of icy coldness struck her head-on, making Yuan Shu shudder again.
“Hiss!”
She drew in a sharp breath. “That icy power is terrifyingly strong! Hey, Mu Fengyun, don’t you dare die!”
Yuan Shu knew that he was frail. Even in the middle of summer, he had to wear a cloak and carry a brazier, bundling himself up from head to toe.
But she had never imagined he could be this weak.
The Cangming Ice Soul was truly formidable. It had actually frozen the meridians and flesh of a living man into ice!
“Mu Fengyun overexerted himself and exhausted his spiritual energy inside the matrix space, weakening the suppression within his body. The power of the Cangming Ice Soul erupted, and then he fell into the Yin Water River…”
The Hehuan Divine Tree explained, “Shushu, the Yin Water River is also an extremely frigid substance. You can endure it because you have spiritual fire within you, but to him, it is fatal!”
“If the icy power inside him isn’t expelled, I’m afraid… he won’t survive!”
Yuan Shu’s brows drew together. With a wave of her hand, she summoned spiritual fire and dried the clothes on both Mu Fengyun and herself.
She had been so focused on finding a way out of the matrix space that she had forgotten about his extreme cold constitution.
The Yin Water River combined with the eruption of the Cangming Ice Soul was truly a deadly combination!
However, the underground river was some distance from the surface, and the path was rugged and winding. It would take more than a moment to reach the top.
Even if Yuan Shu wanted to find someone for help, there was no one she could reach!
“Shushu, use the spiritual fire within you! You’ve forgotten? You were the one who suppressed his Cangming Ice Soul last time!”
Yuan Shu remembered teasing Mu Fengyun in his room at the Mu residence. She had been half-asleep at the time and had mistaken him for Yun Sheng, then thoroughly tormented him.
“Can I?” Yuan Shu frowned, unconvinced.
Back then, Mu Fengyun had merely been weak, but otherwise he had been a perfectly normal person.
Now, his meridians and flesh had all turned to ice shards.
Could spiritual fire still save him in such a condition?
“Try it. If the method you used last time doesn’t work, you can try something else. As long as you can transfer the power of the fire element to him.”
The Hehuan Divine Tree’s words carried a suggestive undertone.
Because their minds were linked, Yuan Shu understood its meaning in an instant.
Back at the Mu residence, she had kissed him deeply and then used other methods. Wasn’t that…
Yuan Shu reached out and twirled a lock of hair beside Mu Fengyun’s temple. She recalled how, inside the matrix space, he had already seen every inch of her body.
Now, in order to save him, if she did something a little excessive, surely he wouldn’t be angry, would he?
Without a doubt, the fastest way to transfer her fire-element power was through dual cultivation.
“Senior Brother Mu, shall we give it a try?”
Yuan Shu tilted her head and looked at his peaceful, sleeping face. The corners of her lips curved upward. “If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as your agreement.”
She spread out the fox-fur cloak he had given her earlier, then carefully lowered Mu Fengyun onto it.
Bracing her arms on either side of him, she lowered her head and kissed his lips.
The bone-chilling sensation made Yuan Shu shudder again.
But the spiritual fire within her surged. In an instant, it drove away all of the oppressive cold.
Yuan Shu took a deep breath, then reached out and pinched his cheeks, parting his lips.
After that, she deepened the kiss.
A faint fragrance of grass and wood mingled with a trace of coolness, creating a distinctive flavor.
Little by little, Yuan Shu transferred the power of the fire element through the gap between his lips. At the same time, her hands deftly undid his sash and slipped beneath the opening of his robe.
The same bone-chilling sensation came from his chest and flowed into her palm. Yuan Shu quickly circulated her spiritual fire and rubbed it over his chest again and again.
“It’s working!” the Hehuan Divine Tree suddenly exclaimed. “The ice shards in his meridians are melting. Shushu, keep going!”
Yuan Shu frowned. She was already doing her best to transfer the fire-element power, but Mu Fengyun’s body was as stiff as a corpse. Relying on kissing alone, it was simply too difficult to warm him.
Fine. She would risk it all!
For the sake of that face of his, Yuan Shu couldn’t just stand by and watch him die.
Yuan Shu rose to her feet and stripped off Mu Fengyun’s clothes in a few swift movements. Then she embraced him.
…
Mu Fengyun had a very long dream. In it, he seemed to have returned to the day the Cangming Ice Soul entered his body.
The cold was piercing, and the pain was unbearable.
He ran along a road without end. His entire body trembled from the cold. He wanted to find some corner beneath an overhanging roof where he could take shelter, but no matter how far he ran, he could not find one.
It seemed that he was the only person in the entire space.
After an unknown length of time, a ball of fire appeared ahead.
Its light was warm. It spread little by little from his arms, chest, and lips—even down to his thighs.
The comforting warmth seemed to possess a magical power that drew him toward it.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he instinctively moved closer, longing to absorb more of its heat.
At last, his body no longer seemed so cold. It was as though he had entered a cozy, warmly heated room, and his entire body relaxed.
After an unknown amount of time, Mu Fengyun’s tightly closed eyes slowly opened to a narrow slit.
The first thing he saw was Yuan Shu’s face, so close that it was almost touching his own. Her eyes were closed.
Then his senses returned.
The supple softness moving skillfully between his lips and teeth, carrying the pear-blossom fragrance he had recalled countless times, was constantly stimulating him.
Mu Fengyun’s eyes widened.
Yuan Shu was kissing him!
No—that wasn’t all. Her hands were moving over him as well.
As though she had sensed something, Mu Fengyun’s body suddenly tensed.
Just like that day, when Yuan Shu had teased him in his room.
Her hand…
